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Title:
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2020 ACEEE City Clean Energy Scorecard Ranking
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Title
2020 ACEEE City Clean Energy Scorecard Ranking
Description
This report provides the Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee a summary of the 2020 City Clean Energy Scorecard released this fall by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY.
Report
Summary
The ACEEE, a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, released its fifth City Clean Energy Scorecard which measures the progress of city policies and programs that save energy, encourage renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also focusing on equity in development and delivery. They ranked the 100 largest U.S. cities for their energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts across the following five policy areas:
Local government operations;
Community-wide initiatives;
Buildings;
Energy and water utilities; and
Transportation.
The City of Phoenix was ranked 19 out of 100 of the nation’s largest cities, and had a top-10 score in the community-wide initiatives category due in part to the City’s: 2050 sustainability goals; progress toward climate goals; and urban heat island mitigation goals and policies. The City also performed well in local government operations due to its top placing in onsite renewables on municipal buildings.
There was a tight cluster of scores for cities that received a ranking from 10-20 with Phoenix being just two points away from 15th place. Phoenix significantly surpassed the median score in all categories and received more than double the points of both Mesa and Tucson. However, the report is more valuable as a guidance document than for comparing cities, given the ranking is affected by both state and local utility policies and programs. For example, California cities received, on average, 6.5 additional points for their state policies and standards while Arizona cities received a negative 2.5 points for the state's lack of policies as compared to the national average.
For areas of improvement, ACEEE recommended the City accelerate public electric vehicle charging infrastructure and include solar and electric vehicle readiness requirements in its building codes. The next scorecard is planned for 2022, and staff believe the City's ranking will improve significantly following the proposed climate action plan being brought to City Council in the fall of 2021.
The Phoenix-specific report is provided as Attachment A and the full report showing all-city rankings can be found at www.aceee.org.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Karen Peters and the Office of Sustainability.